Through the Eyes of an Avox
by GalnKay
Summary: Someone can hold a grudge for a very long time.


Through the Eyes of an Avox:

There I was. Serving yet another full-course meal to those glittery, shimmery, jewel encrusted Capitol brats. I despised them. I despised their culture, what they stood for, and what they had done to me. They were all fake. Nothing about them was real; their smiles never reaching their eyes, their conversations always aimed to tear others apart, their lives revolving around themselves; their kind words and complements were all a show to disguise their true intentions. Of course, the pretend complements and words of kindness were never spoken in my direction. They weren't even allowed to speak to me unless they were ordering me about as if I wasn't a person at all. In reality, this city was my hometown, as much as it was theirs. Not so long ago, I was one of them, laughing and partying in my own gaudy dresses and facial paintings. But not anymore. I was nothing but an animal to these people, a tool to be worked and slaved until I died, after I had done nothing at all except do what was best for my brother and I. Im just a mute girl dressed in white. According to them, Im not a person. To them, I don't even exist.

I had just handed out the drinks, when the doors burst open so forcefully, they bounced back from the walls. All heads turned to the side of the room. I about dropped the tray I was holding when I saw who it was. A girl. Sixteen at the oldest. Long dark hair in a long braid down her back and a permanent scowl plastered on her face. It was her. That girl from the forest so long ago. And that girl was the reason that I was here, and the reason I was treated so. She huffed and sat down. Everyone greeted her happily, yet she didn't smile in return or say anything for that matter. I finished serving and stepped back into the shadows, my eyes never leaving that long haired forest girl. I had no idea what her name was, or why she was even here. She probably didn't even recognize me. Why would she? I was hidden in the shadows, the girl who served the drinks. She didn't even seem to care about my existence on that day in the forests. But, I had no clue whom this girl was. Oh, wait. No, I had seen her somewhere recently. She was the District 12 girl who stepped in for her sister on the reaping day. She was the girl who was "on fire". She was here for the Hunger Games. Which meant she would most likely die in the arena. Unless she won. But that would be a long shot. There was only one winner, and they were usually boys. And she was quite small. And thin. And she looked like she had almost been starved to death. Yet, even she, this girl from District 12, was given more respect than me. Well, that was the price I paid for being an Avox.

Oh, that day in the forest. She just stood there. I saw her. I looked into her eyes. She just stayed, crouched in the forest shrub, with that boy. They did nothing.

The helicopters and hovercrafts searched the ground for me and my older brother. We both had run away from the Capitol, which to them, is considered rebellion. We therefore were criminals, and the punishment for rebellion in Panem is either death or a life of servitude. This being Panem, we could totally rule out a fair trial. Yes, that would be unheard of. No one has had a trial of any sorts in years thanks to the Capital. The Capital was a painted picture of color and riches, of beauty and perfection. Well, in reality, it was a city ruled by tyrants. Tyrants who also ruled all twelve districts with an iron fist, leaving their subjects cold and starving, slaving away in fields and mines and factories, all of their work's profit going to the Capitol and not to the people. Tyrants who turned on their own innocent citizens, sentencing them to horrible fates, such as they did to me.

My brother and I had made it all the way to District 12, watching our backs as we ran, never slowing, never stopping, eating what little food we had taken with us. We had been on the run for days. We hadn't had anything to drink for what seemed like forever. We finally had made it into that forest, thinking we were safe and stopping for a moment to breath. But the hovercrafts appeared out of nowhere, the sound of their propellers and engines deafening and overpowering all other forest noise. I stared up at the sky in disbelief, stealing a horrifying glance at my brother who was equally perplexed. My brother began to shout at the top of his lungs for me to run. "Run, Lavinia! Run! Get away from here!" he screamed at me. But there was no way I would leave him there by himself. I shook my head at him. Even if I did run, I would never get away anyhow. I scanned the landscape frantically, my breathing becoming rapid, tears beginning to run down my dirt covered cheeks. My brother grabbed onto my hand like a lifeline. I continued to look for a way out, for a small sign of hope. I silently prayed to any deity who would listen. And suddenly, there, behind the cover of the leaves, she was crouched. That girl with the brown braid was yards away from us. Our eyes locked. I tried to send her a silent plea. When that didn't work, I resorted to screaming to her for help. I was begging, pleading for her to come. But that girl, my last hope, turned out to be nothing but a coward. She sat there, looking at me, doing nothing. I can remember hearing myself scream even louder as that net came down out of the sky, falling over my body and quickly binding me and knocking me to the ground. I can still feel the utter pain, total shock, and sheer terror that ran through me as I heard the whistle of the deadly spear with the poisoned tip as it cut through the air and penetrated my brother's body. He gasped, and held his chest, groaning and making the most awful sounds. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground with a thud. A net captured his body as well, which was by that time hanging in the air limply and lifelessly, tangled up in the mass of netting, his arm hanging out through one of the openings. His blood was everywhere, and I doubled over in fear. I could have been next. And she still stayed behind that bush. I could feel all hope and will to live being drained out of my body as I was lifted higher and higher, still wrapped in the net, sobbing silently, feet away from my brother, looking into his cold and blank eyes until I, and my now mutilated brother's body, reached the hovercraft.

They took hold of me, tied my hands. I screamed and screamed, knowing that no one was there to help me; that nobody here would be on my side. I blacked out. When I woke up, I tried to sit up, but I was restrained. I tried calling for help, to find that only broken up sounds could emerge from my cracked lips. I remember the pit in my stomach when I realized there was an eerie emptiness in my mouth where my tongue had been, and I began to cry. I knew I would never be able to speak again, or see my brother again. Then I was shipped back to the same Capitol which I had been trying to escape from. I was back where I started, and in even worse a condition.

Now, I am here. A servant, unable to speak, and shunned from all society. I am an Avox. Because that girl was too ignorant to move. I was interrupted from my thoughts as someone ordered me to get more drinks. I picked up a silver platter with an ornate pitcher of drink. I walked around the table, completely ignored, until I reached the forest girl. She looked right up at me, about to thank me for refilling her water, when her eyes grew about ten times bigger. Her mouth opened and closed with recognition. I stared into her eyes. Did I see hers filled with apologies? Or was I just seeing things? I don't think I was. There was whispering around the table. Suddenly, the boy tribute spoke up.

"Delly Cartwright. I knew she looked familiar. Must be the hair." He said, saving forest girl from the disapproving looks from the rest of the table. She nodded her head slightly. I turned away, setting the drink pitcher back down on the small table as I stepped back again, hidden in the shadows. In the shadows, no one could see my face.

Strangely, I didn't want this strange forest girl to die. I didn't want her to be harmed. I wanted her to live, to win these Hunger Games, to beat everyone. I wanted her to be rich and to never be hungry and to be taken care of for the rest of her life. I wanted her life to end up better than mine. It was that apologetic look in her eyes that made me decide this. She was sorry. She remembered. She was just as scared that day as I was. In my eyes, even though I could never tell her, she was forgiven. She owed me nothing.


End file.
